Torque regulator for reels



May 12, 1953 F. 1.; M QUARRIE ET AL 2,638,285

,. TORQUE REGULATOR FOR REELS Filed April 1, 1950 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lllll! in a Hllllll FRED L. MAC OUA/PRIE, FRANK S. WOODS, 4 INVENTORS. HUEBNE'R, BE EHLEP, WORREL,

HERZ/G 8 CALDWELL,

- ATTORNEYS.

K M/A WM May 12, 1953 F. M UARRIE ET AL 2,638,285

TORQUE REGULATOR FOR REELS Filed April 1, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 2.; mso L. MAC OUARR/E, a 4/ FRANK s. wooos, wvs/vrops;

/ HUEBNER. BEEHL ER, WORREL,

HERZIG 8 CALDWELL,

A TTORNEYS.

Patented May 12, 1953 TORQUE nccum'roa FOB. REELS Fred L. MacQuarrie, Los Angeles, and Frank S. Woods, Montehellc, Califl, assi'gnors', by mesne assignments,v of fifty and one-half not cent to; said: MacQuan-ie and iortymine andv one-ha]; I161. cent to said. Woods Application April'l, 1950-, Serial No. 153,394

4 Claims. (Cl. 242-75) Our invention relates to;- a torque regu ator whichis particularly applicable and finds. its most beneficial use in connection the rollin of sheet stock. such as. fciL. paper or sheet metal, onto a. take-up reel aiiter some. processing opera tion, such as rolling or slitting, wherein it is desired. to maintain aaconstant tension on the sheet stock to'avoid exceeding the tensile strength of the material. and to provide as. tight a wind as possible within the material strength limits.

In such operations as sheet: meta v slitting, par ticularly where powe slitting is being employed, the ori nal sheetv stock is fed between rotating slitting knives and re-wound on a take-up reel. Usually, in th finterest oi economy and effiCiGHCX, the take-up reelis power driven by a power takeoff: means from the source of. power operating the slitting knives, so that the ratio of the rate. oi rotation between the. slitting knives and. the take-up reel be. constant unless some m ans is introduced which permits a. variation.

It. is one of the obiectsof our invention to pro vide a means for varying the rate of rotation of the take-up reel with respect. to the slitting knives or other manufacturing process, which is responsive to the tension on the material bein wound onthe take-off reel.

- It; is clear that'if the ratio between the rate of rotation of the take-up reel and the slittin knives remains constant that the lineal footage of the finished product being deposited on the take-up reel per revolution, will increase with each revolution of-the take-up reel; whereas, the lineal'footage traversing the slitting knives or other manufacturing process will remain constant. It, therefore, becomes necessary to clecrease the rate of rotation of. the take-up reel as the finished. product is wound. thereon.

It is a further object of our invention to provide a means which automatically v ries the. ra e of rotation of the take-up reel in direct ratio to the diameter of the coil of the finished product being deposited on said reel.

In such a power-driven operation as power slitting, it is essential that the take-up reel begin to rotate immediately upon beginning of rotatlon of the slitting knives, or if there is any ap. precia-ble delay, it is essential that means be pro vided to take-up any slack which might develop as a result of the delay.

It is also among the object of our invention to provide a torque control means wh ch is coordinated with the operation of the slitting knives so that upon startin of the slitting knives the takempreel i immediat ly actuated 2 to eliminate sag in the material and winding. I

Other and iurther objects and. advantages of our invention will become apparent from the drawings and the specification relative thereto.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a. front elevational View of a torque; tcontrol embodying the principles of our inton Figure 2 is a top plan. elevational view of the torque control shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the torque control illustrated in Figure ll Figure 4 is an p oded schemat c. rawine ill lustrating the principles and. operation of. our torque controL In our torque controlv regulator. we h ve new vided a take-up reel W adapted to rem nd the stock bein processe on another machine. Th processing machine. is not illustrated. a it com prises no part of our invention and may be 015 any standard type. The t k -up reel is non-ro taticnally secured o the end oi a shaft H which hose is upported by e nillow lock bearing 13 moun 7 ed on a. frame l3. The other end of he shaft H is suppor ed by a pillow block, H. A plurality of s rocket iii are secured to the shaft I l by any suitable means, such as a key or set screws, and is in non-rotational relation thereto. Sprocket chains l6 connect a plurality of. sprockets I11 with the sprockets Hi to transmit t rque from the sprockets H to the takemn e l it. The mock ets it are in nonrotational engagement with a shaft. 20 supported at one end a d f eren ial unit H. The details of the d ff rential unit will be explained later.

A shaft 22 is, also supported on one end in the differential unit 2| and carries a gea 23 at the other end hereof. The gear 23 is in. m s with the gear 2 The gear 24 is. carried by a shaft 25. which said shaft is suppor ed a each end, respectively. by bearings 26 and 2.1, the bearin s 26 and 1 being moun ed on a Home 2.8.

A sprocket 29 is secured to the shaft 25- and is connected y means at a sprocke chain to th source of power used to drive the other perating equipment. The chain is designated schematically at 30 in. Figure 4.

A third shaft 33 extends outwardly irom the differential unit 2| and carries a sprocket 34 on the end t ereof which is connected. to a sprock t 35 by me ns at a chain 31L Referring to Figure l, the details of the diflcn cntial u it are sh wn in an exploded view The inner end of the shaft 20 and the inner end of the shaft 22 each carries bevel gears 38 and 39, respectively. The bevel gears are in mesh with a cluster of bevel gears 40. The bevel gears 40 are rotationally secured to the inner edge of a ring gear 4|. A bevel gear 42 is secured to the inner end 'of the shaft 33.

It will readily be seen that in the event the shaft 33 is restrained from rotation, all of the torque delivered by the shaft 33 to the differential unit 2! will be transmitted through the cluster of bevel gears 40 to the shaft 20 and, hence, to the take-up reel Hi. In the event that the shaft 33 is free to rotate, no force or torque can be transmitted from the shaft 22 to the shaft 20 because the ring gear will be free to rotate rather than cause the transmission of any torque.

It thus becomes apparent that the amount of torque to be transmitted from the shaft 22 to the take-up reel It will depend upon the restraint of the shaft 33 against rotation and that by preselecting a given restraint, a constant torque can at all times be transmitted to the take-up reel l0. In order to provide such a restraint, we have provided a pump 50 of any suitable nature so long as said pump is positive-acting. The pump is connected with the sprocket 35 by means of a shaft and coupling 52. The shafting ar rangement is supported by a bearing 53.

The pump 50 is formed with an inlet 54 and a discharge 55, the inlet 54 being connected by means of a conduit 56 to a reservoir tank 51. A discharge conduit 58 is connected to a pressure relief by-pass valve 59. The by-pass valve is formed with a by-pass outlet 60 having a conduit 6| returning to the reservoir 51 and also having a conduit 63 connected to a second spring-loaded bypass valve 64.

The by-pass valve 64 is provided with a bypass line 66 which returns to the reservoir tank 51 and has a valve 61 positioned in the line. The purpose of this valve will be explained later.

The main discharge of the valve 64 is through a conduit 68 and a valve 69 to the reservoir 51.

It should be understood at this point that the pressure relief by-pass valve 59 has an unobstructed flow from the conduit 58 to the conduit 63 and has a pressure responsive discharge through the conduit 6| in the event that the flow through the conduit 63 is obstructed to such an extent that the safe limits of the pump are ex ceeded. For example, if the pump should not be run at a pressure greater than 1200 lbs. per square inch, the pressure relief by-pass valve 59 will be set to divert the flow of fluid through the conduit 6| at approximately 1000 lbs. pressure, thereby assuring against permanent damage to the pump 50.

The valve 64 is provided with an uninterrupted flow from the conduit 63 through the conduit 66, which returns to the reservoir 51 if the valve 61 .is open. Fluid passing through the valve 64 must travel through the conduit 68 and valve 69 to return to the reservoir 51 when the valve GIis closed. The valve 64 provides a spring-loaded obstructed passage. from the conduit 63 to the conduit 68. The spring-loading will be set at a much smaller value than the spring-loading of the valve 59, the purpose of which will become apparent later.

During operating conditions when it is desired to transmit a constant torque to the takeup reel [0, the valve 61 is closed and the valve 69 adjusted to any restriction desired which W1 4 regulate the back pressure on the pump 50, thereby regulating the restriction against rotation of the shaft 33.

The valve 61 is provided with a valve stem 10 having a pinion gear H at the upper end thereof. The rotation of the pinion gear H is controlled by a spring-loaded gear rack 12, which is connected to a cable 13. The cable is connected to the operating controls of the other operating equipment in such a manner that when the operating controls of the other equipment are shifted to start operation, the valve 6! will be closed by the rack 12 rotatin the gear H and the shaft 10 and, conversely, when the operating controls of the other equipment are shifted to cease operation, the valve 6! will be open, thereby immediately releasing the restriction against the rotation of the shaft 33. Since therefore the shaft 33 is entirely free to rotate, rotation of the shaft 20 and consequently the take-up reel I0 will immediately cease. By way of illustration a conventional switch is shown in Figure 2 adapted upon being closed to shift a lever 8| in which position a motor 82 starts the reel l0 rotating. In the same position the valve 61 is closed.

The purpose of providing a back pressure in the valve 64 when the valve 61 is closed is to provide an initial immediate back pressure against the rotation of the pump 50, so that the torsional force of the shaft 22, at least equal to the restriction in the valve 64, will immediately be transmitted to the take-up reel I0. For example, if the spring loading in the passage between the conduits 63 and 68 is set at approximately 300 lbs. per square inch upon starting when the valve 61 is closed, there will be an immediate back pressure against the pump in order to start rotation of the take-up reel. The restriction takes the form of a pressure relief valve which is completely closed under 300 lbs. per square inch. Were such restriction not present, flow of liquid through .the valve 69, even though said valve be partially restricted, would not present an immediate problem of back pressure until the velocity of the flow from the pump 5!] reached a predetermined minimum rate of flow.

While we have herein shown and described our invention in what we have conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of our invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein, but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A constant tension rewind device for strip material emerging at constant speed from a work operation comprising a rewind reel, starting and stopping reel operating controls, a differential gearing comprising three rotatable power transmitting elements, a direct positive driving connection from one of said elements to the reel, a direct positive driven connection from a second of said elements to a source of power, a pump and a direct positive driving connection from the third of said elements to said pump, a pump fluid reservoir, a supply conduit from the reservoir to the pump, a normally open control conduit from the pump, a by-pass valve in the control conduit having two outlet conduits therefrom, a normally closed spring loaded valve in one of said outlet conduits and a rewind torque control valve in said one outlet conduit having a manually variable setting adapted to establish a preselected constant operating resistance in the pump discharge conduit at a pressure greater than the opening pressure of the spring loaded valve, the other of said outlet conduits being normally open and a shut-oil valve in said other outlet conduit having full on and full ofi positions, said shut-ofi valve being operatively connected to said reel operating controls in a sequence wherein when the reel is at starting position the shut-off valve is in one position and when the reel is at stopping position the shut-off valve is in the other position.

2. A constant tension rewind device for strip material emerging at constant speed from a work operation comprising a rewind reel, starting and stopping reel operating controls, a differential gearing comprising three rotatable power transmitting elements, a direct positive driving connection from one of said elements to the reel, a direct positive driven connection from a second of said elements to a source of power, a pump and a direct positive driving connection from the third of said elements to said pump, a pump fluid reservoir, a supply conduit from the reservoir to the pump, a normally open control conduit from the pump, a by-pass valve in the control conduit having two outlet conduits therefrom, a spring loaded valve, a rewind torque control valve in one of said outlet conduits at a location outwardly relative to the spring loaded valve having a manually variable setting adapted to establish a preselected constant operating resistance in the pump discharge conduit, the other of said outlet conduits being normally open and a shut-off valve in said other outlet conduit having full on and full off positions, said shut-off valve being operatively connected to said reel operating controls in a sequence wherein when the reel is at starting position the shut-oil valve is open and when the reel is at stopping position the shut-off valve is closed.

3. A- constant tension rewind device for strip material emerging at constant speed from a work operation comprising a rewind reel, a difierential gearing comprising three rotatable power transmitting elements, a direct positive driving connection from one of said elements to the reel, 2. direct positive driven connection from a second of said elements to a source of power, a pump and a direct positive driving connection from a third of said elements to said pump, a pump fluid reservoir, a supply conduit from the reservoir to the pump, a normally open control conduit from the pump, a valve in the control conduit having an outlet conduit therefrom, a normally closed spring loaded valve in said outlet conduit and a rewind torque control valve in said outlet conduit outwardly from the spring loaded valve having a manually variable setting adapted to establish a preselected constant operating resistance in the pump discharge conduit at a pressure greater than the opening pressure of the spring loaded valve.

4. A constant tension rewind device for strip material emerging at constant speed from a work operation comprising a rewind reel, reel operating controls including means for stopping the reel and releasing the reel for operation, a differential gearing comprising three rotatable power transmitting elements, a direct positive driving connection from one of said elements to the reel, a direct positive driven connection from a second 01' said elements to a source of power, a pump and a direct positive driving connection from a third of said elements to said pump, a pump fluid reservoir, a supply conduit from the reservoir to the pump, a discharge conduit from the pump, a first by-pass valve in the discharge conduit having a fluid return by-pass conduit to the reservoir and a normally closed safety relief valve therein, a normally open control conduit from the first bypass valve, a second by-pass valve in the control conduit having two outlet conduits therefrom to the reservoir, a normally closed spring loaded valve in one of said outlet conduits and a rewind torque control valve in said one outlet conduit between the spring loaded valve and the reservoir having a manually variable setting adapted to establish a preselected constant operating resistance in the pump discharge conduit at a pressure greater than the opening pressure of the spring loaded valve, the other of said outlet conduits being normally open and a shut-off valve in said other outlet conduit operatively connected to said reel operating controls in a sequence wherein when the reel is stopped the shut-off valve is open and when the reel is rotating the shut-off valve is closed.

FRED L. MACQUARRIE. FRANK S. WOODS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,830,941 Hild Nov. 10, 1931 1,968,636 Dickhaut July 31, 1934 2,064,295 Crane Dec. 15, 1936 2,232,252 Mathey Feb. 18, 1941 2,392,226 Butterworth Jan. 1, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 716,246 France Dec. 17, 1931 

